Malaysia's Maxis has reported a 2.2% year-on-year increase in revenue for the second quarter, due to solid subscriber growth and smartphone penetration.
Revenue for the quarter reached 2.09 billion ringgit ($548.7 million). Post-tax profit increased 6.6% from the first quarter but only marginally year-on-year to 485 million ringgit.
Maxis' subscriber base meanwhile reached 12.2 million, with the company revealing it had added 1.1 million customers since the end of the second quarter last year. The company's base of mobile internet users meanwhile reached 9.1 million, while smartphone penetration hit 65%.
The operator ramped up its investment in network growth and modernization during the quarter, spending a total of 260 million ringgit.
The company has committed to spending at least 1.1 billion riggit in capex for 2015 on an LTE network expansion, as well as improving capacity and quality. Maxis' LTE network currently covers nearly 41% of the population, and the operator aims to increase this to over 50% by year-end.
“Operationally and financially, it was a good quarter for Maxis, taking into account the early GST hiccups and the general impact of GST on prepaid,” Maxis CEO Morten Lundal commented.
“Our intense focus on unmatched customer experience and to provide the best network for data is rewarded with more and happier customers.”
Malaysia recently introduced a GST on prepaid top-up purchases to replace an earlier sales and services tax, but due to confusion operators increased their prices for top-up cards because they thought the GST added to the original tax instead.
In May, the government decided not to charge GST on prepaid reloads but to charge a 6% consumption tax on use of the service. But the new rules won't come into effect for another four months.